What We Do

IEN, over the last 20 years has worked on and been an integral part of many programs and campaigns to protect the environmental, cultural, social, and human rights of Indigenous Peoples. Below are both currently funded and active campaigns, along with past and currently inactive/unfunded programs and campaigns. We continue to offer information for both active and inactive campaigns as a reference and to informally document IEN's 20-plus year history.

Native Energy & Climate Justice

IEN's Native Energy & Climate Justice Program encompasses all mining of fossil fuels and precious minerals, oil and gas extraction, and the current international plans to completely control and commodify all natural resources at the expense of Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Climate Justice, Energy Justice, REDOIL, Mining, Carbon Markets & REDD, and the Tribal Campus Climate Challenge all fall under this broader title.

Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands

As part of the Native Energy & Climage Justice Programs, the IEN Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign has become an international effort, with organizers, supporters, and sister organizations in the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe. Efforts to stop the expansion of the tar sands in Alberta and other Canadian provinces where tar sands have been found, are now also including stopping trans-continental pipelines, and heavy haul operations in the U.S. and Canada.

Food Sovereignty Security & Health

Food security is increasingly becoming an important concern for Indigenous Communities as climate change disrupts both wild and cultivated foods, and life-threatening diseases like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. plague a large portion of the population. This program is working with communities to establish healthy eating habits through education in gathering wild traditional foods, cultivating healthy gardens, preserving foods and cooking healthy.

Carbon Trading Offsets & REDD

This broad interpretation could be used to include the conservation of existing old growth forests, but it could also be used to promote the ‘enhancement of carbon stocks,’ which is shorthand for a range of measures that includes the massive expansion of monoculture tree plantations. This definition of REDD+ could even be used to promote the use and expansion of risky untested technologies including genetically-engineered trees.

REDOIL - Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands

REDOIL is now an affliate of IEN, partially funded and supported, yet a separate entity. From the REDOIL Page: We adhere to the inherent right to self-determination for all indigenous peoples. We reject the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act as an illegitimate infringement on our right to sovereignty and self-determination. We are committed to a moratorium on all new exploration for oil, gas and coal as a first step towards the full phase-out of fossil fuels with a just transition to sustainable jobs, energy and environment. We take this position based on our concern over the disproportionate social, cultural, spiritual, environmental, and climate impacts on indigenous peoples, particularly in Alaska.

International Issues

IEN participates in many global initatives, conferences, and panels to include: United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, UN COPs, World Social Forum, and U.S. Social Forum to name a few.